Speech & Debate
Bay Area Premiere
by Stephen Karam
directed by Robin Stanton
June 11, 2010 - July 18, 2010
show length: 1 hour, 45 minutes, no intermission
In this Off-Broadway hit play with music that Entertainment Weekly hailed as one of the 10 best plays of last season, three teenage misfits in Salem, Oregon discover they are curiously connected by a sex scandal that’s rocked their hometown. When the trio, under the guise of a speech and debate team, form an unlikely alliance to seek out and disclose the truth, secrets become currency, stakes escalate, and their connection grows deeper in their quest for the trifecta of fame, free speech and the perfect Broadway musical number.
"Packed with funny material and clever twists." - SF Chronicle (read the full review)
"The sheer giddy joy of performance here is irresistible" - San Jose Mercury News (read the full review)
"It gets my highest rating of 10+." - KGO Radio (read the full review)
Videos
Speech & Debate Trailer
Watch the video trailer for Speech and Debate.
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Production Photos
Program Notes
Related Events
Friday Forum: Telling the Truth at Home and School
Post-show Friday, July 2
A scheduled opportunity to engage with the audience in an evening of dialogue and community-building around the issues of the play just viewed. Facilitated by the Education Director, this twenty-minute forum invites audience members to engage with topics that get at the challenging content of the show in a personal way, interacting with each other and the cast and director (when possible), and calling forth the long-term implications of the show in our lives.
This will be the springboard for our discussion addressing our community concern surrounding the generations and their relationship to truth as a civic value. 20 minutes, led by Education Director, Michael Mansfield
Script Club: Hamlet
FREE! Monday, July 12th 7:30pm
The challenges of facing up to personal truth about yourself, to yourself and others, remains a timeless conundrum. Speech & Debate, written in 2006 by Stephen Karam, picks up precisely where William Shakespeare left off in 1599 with his famous drama, The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Led by Education Director, Michael Mansfield
Tuesday Talk-back
Post-show Tuesday, July 6th
Bonus talk-back Saturday, June 12th
Groups can enhance their experience at Aurora by requesting a post-show Talk-Back. Facilitated by the group’s coordinator or by Aurora’s Education Director, twenty minute post-show Talk-Backs may include a dialogue with the cast, director, or designers. The opportunity for the group to discuss their reflections on the play they just experienced, as well as, the natural interest of the audience in the actors’ experiences of working on this particular script, often shapes the focus of the discussion. Groups of 20 or more should request well in advance their interest to include actors, director, stage manager, or designers at their Talk-Back.
Stimulus Recovery Night - Generational Differences in Families and Fortunes
Post-show Friday, July 16
These are twenty-minute audience-driven interactions after the show, focusing on a timely theme that was explored in the production and how it relates to our season Families and Fortunes. How does theatre address this theme in this production, at this time in the season, and more generally, on stage? Michael Mansfield, Aurora’s Education Director facilitates.
When did chosen families and chosen families throwing their fortunes and futures together to accomplish a task get so intertwined in American and American dramatic history? 20 minutes, led by Education Director, Michael Mansfield
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